My name is Dave Stancliff. Walk down the road of life with me each day. You'll find news and my views. I'm a veteran, an independent thinker, and a former newspaper publisher and editor.
This blog is not about making money. It's a forum to share with. All views expressed are mine, unless I note otherwise.

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Remember to honor/humor Dad today just because

Good Day World!

Excuse me for not getting up to greet you, but I’m being indulgent and lazy today.

You know why? No, it’s not National Slob Day (if there is such a holiday sign me up!).

Today is Father's Day. We’re honoring our fathers and celebrating fatherhood, paternal bonds, and the influence of fathers in society.

We do this in several ways. The first and foremost way is the special National Father Day sales at stores. Grateful children and wives can show their love by purchasing things Dad may never use (like gold pen sets or cuff links). Smart Dads fawn over these presents with flowery speeches of gratitude and then quietly tuck them into their sock drawers when no one is looking.

The second way we make this day special for Dads is to humor him. With wives, this means saying Dad’s right regardless of the subject. I can tell you one day of being right really makes up for the rest of the year!

Children under 12 have it pretty easy on Father’s Day. All they have to do is say endearing things like, “I love you Daddy.” They can go out of their innocent little ways to make Dad happy. This could mean fighting in another room, out of Dad’s earshot.

Teenagers are another thing. They’ll acknowledge there is such a day in their own unique way by not asking for money. As a father of three sons, I always appreciated this consideration.

Finally, we honor Father’s Day by letting Dad do whatever he wants all day. Within limits of course.

I speak for millions of Dads everywhere when I say this is the time to pull out our old t-shirts full of holes and memories, and wear them without fear of our sanity being questioned.

This freedom extends to mastery of the TV. In a time-honored family tradition in the Stancliff household, my wife hands me the remote control with my first cup of coffee on Father’s Day morning. It’s really quite sweet.

One of the many benefits of being a Dad is watching your children grow up and have children of their own. You get payback for all those years of busting your chops when they were growing up! I have to admit I get a guilty pleasure from watching my grandchildren test my son’s limits.

Charles Wadsworth once said, “By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he's wrong.”

Being a Dad is the most important thing I’ve done in my life.

Sometimes it’s a thankless task, but most of the time it’s what grounds me. For good or bad, I’m a Dad and proud of it. I’m also humble enough to realize that this honored title has to be earned by being there for my family.

I’m glad I’ll never stop being a Dad. It gives my life meaning. I think about my Dad, 86-years old and still going strong. He’s suffered the loss of his wife (my mother) and two of his children. He just has me and my sister now. You have to be strong in heart to be a good father, and mine is the best.

I started this column off with humor and have taken it into a sad aside. That’s okay I guess, because I can’t do any wrong today. Remember?

If you don’t live with your dear old Dad please take a moment and call him, email him, text him, post a message on a blimp, go live on a local radio station, or just stop by today?

There’s one thing about us Dads; we love to hear from our children. Heck, we’re suckers when it comes to our kids. So humor us and you‘ll honor us.

Did you know the first Father's Day celebration was in Spokane, Wa. on May 18, 1910?

One famous father, Bill Cosby said, “If the new American father feels bewildered and even defeated, let him take comfort from the fact that whatever he does in any fathering situation has a fifty percent chance of being right.”

Those odds are good enough for me. Please don’t be upset if I don’t get up and open the door for you when you leave!